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Secret Service returns $286 million in<br />
fraudulent small business loans<br />
The U.S. Secret Service returned<br />
$286 million in fraudulently obtained<br />
pandemic aid loans to the Small Business<br />
Administration (SBA), according to<br />
an August 29 CNBC report.<br />
The agency announced that the funds<br />
sent back to the SBA were obtained via the<br />
Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL)<br />
program using both fabricated information<br />
and stolen identities, the story said.<br />
Around 15,000 accounts were caught<br />
using Green Dot Bank, a fintech institution.<br />
“Fraudsters in general are always<br />
looking for ways and techniques to better<br />
do their crimes and modern conveniences<br />
are just one of those things they<br />
use. So currently, cryptocurrency is a big<br />
thing, fintechs, third-party payment systems.<br />
But there’s not an institution, even<br />
our traditional financial institutions, that<br />
weren’t targeted during the pandemic,”<br />
Roy Dotson, lead investigator for the Secret<br />
Service, told CNBC in an interview.<br />
Green Dot stated it was cooperating<br />
and even partnering with federal agencies<br />
to identify the culprits.<br />
“Account protection and fraud prevention<br />
are top priorities for us, and we<br />
work around the clock and invest heavily<br />
to identify, block and address fraudulent<br />
activity. We’re committed to protecting<br />
customers, and also to serving as [a] proactive<br />
ally to government agencies and<br />
industry peers as we work together to<br />
prevent fraud,” Green Dot spokeswoman<br />
Alison Lubert said in a statement.<br />
While investigations are still ongoing,<br />
there have so far been more than 400<br />
indictments and nearly 300 convictions<br />
related to pandemic fraud.<br />
Since the pandemic started back in<br />
March 2020, the U.S. government allocated<br />
more than $1 trillion to “Main<br />
Street” under both the Paycheck Protection<br />
Program and EIDL program to help<br />
small businesses stay afloat. “Reviews of<br />
the two programs by the SBA’s Office of<br />
INDUSTRY NEWS<br />
Inspector General warned that criminals<br />
would potentially exploit the system due<br />
to the fast-moving nature of the rollout<br />
and demand for aid,” CNBC reported.<br />
The SBA OIG said it has identified<br />
$87 billion of potentially fraudulent<br />
EIDL loans. The Secret Service has so<br />
far seized over $1.4 billion in fraudulently<br />
obtained funds and has been able to return<br />
approximately $2.3 billion to state<br />
unemployment insurance programs.<br />
Little Trees turns 70!<br />
The air freshener company, made<br />
famous for its tree-shaped ornaments<br />
scented with ‘Black Ice’ (which launched<br />
in 2004), ‘New Car Scent’ and ‘Morning<br />
Rain’ aromas, is now 70 years old. According<br />
to the company website, back In<br />
1952, a milk truck driver in northern New<br />
York complained to Julius Sämann about<br />
the smell of spilled milk. To address this<br />
issue, Julius combined exceptional fragrances<br />
with specialized blotter material<br />
and invented the first car air freshener.<br />
He gave it the shape of an abstract evergreen<br />
tree in honor of his years extracting<br />
aromatic oils in Canada’s pine forests.<br />
A 2012 New York Times article titled,<br />
“Who Made Those Little Trees<br />
Air Fresheners?”stated that In<br />
1954, Samann filed a patent<br />
for paper impregnated<br />
with “odor-destroying,<br />
air-perfuming substances,”<br />
a cellophane wrapper<br />
and a string to hang<br />
it on. The string was a<br />
necessity, he noted in his application,<br />
because “the substances<br />
are sometimes of an oily or sticky nature<br />
or hard to remove from the hands.” The<br />
accompanying drawing featured a container<br />
holding a paper cutout<br />
of the profile of a bosomy,<br />
arch-backed pinup. But<br />
Samann eventually<br />
swapped out the pinup<br />
for the pine tree.<br />
“The reasons were<br />
largely practical,” the<br />
article stated, as the tree’s<br />
conical shape allowed its<br />
cellophane wrapper to be rolled<br />
back slowly, from its apex down, so the<br />
fragrance could be drawn out, branch by<br />
branch. Judicious users could preserve the<br />
pine scent for up to seven weeks.<br />
The first fragrances included Royal<br />
Pine, Spice and Bouquet. As the air fresheners<br />
grew in popularity, so did its catalogs<br />
of offerings. Based in Watertown, New<br />
York, the company expanded and added<br />
a factory in DeWitt, Iowa. The product<br />
offerings grew to vent wraps, vent liquids<br />
and sprays. Today, the company offers<br />
over 60 different scents.<br />
NRCC keynote speaker talks about hope, perseverance<br />
It was another successful Northeast<br />
Regional Carwash Convention (NRCC),<br />
which once again took place at the Atlantic<br />
City Convention Center, between<br />
September 19-21, <strong>2022</strong>. Hosted by the<br />
New England Carwash Association<br />
with Dave Ellard and John Shalbey Jr.<br />
as co-chairmen, the tradeshow floor<br />
was bustling the first day. With a pickleball<br />
convention happening next door, it<br />
seemed as if crowded conventions were<br />
back to normal and people were swarming<br />
the Atlantic City Convention Center<br />
to once again mingle, network, get ideas,<br />
and upgrades. One of the highlights of<br />
the recent Convention was the keynote<br />
address given by New York Times Author,<br />
Travis Mills. Mills, who is famous<br />
for writing Tough as They Come, is a retired<br />
United States Army Staff Sergeant<br />
who calls himself a recalibrated warrior,<br />
motivational speaker, actor, author and<br />
advocate for veterans and amputees.<br />
Mills lost portions of both arms and<br />
legs from an IED (improvised explosive<br />
device) while on active duty in Afghanistan.<br />
Mills’ road to recovery was not one<br />
marked with sorrow or pity, or despair,<br />
but instead humor, grace and determination.<br />
“You cannot always change your<br />
situation, but you can change your attitude,”<br />
he told the packed crowd. Mills<br />
and his wife Kelsey founded the Travis<br />
Mills Foundation, a nonprofit organization,<br />
to benefit and assist post 9/11<br />
veterans who have been injured in active<br />
duty or as a result of their service to<br />
the country. He offered up the advice of<br />
moving forward and being grateful that<br />
you’re still alive and, to not dwell on the<br />
past. Mills was kind enough to greet attendees<br />
of the keynote address and even<br />
answer questions.<br />
Details for next year’s NRCC are<br />
already being revealed. It will<br />
once again take place at the Atlantic<br />
City Convention Center, but<br />
this time in October and will be<br />
held from October 2-4, 2023.<br />
VOL. 7, NO.4 • <strong>WINTER</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | AUTO DETAILING NEWS | 17